The Internet, including the World Wide Web (hereinafter the Web), makes a large amount of information accessible to anyone connected to the Internet. In order to access the Internet, a user typically subscribes to an on-line service provider. Using, for example, a modem coupled to a computer, the user contacts the service provider who, in turn, connects the user to the Internet. Once the user is coupled to the Internet, the user is said to be "on-line" (a user who is not on-line is referred to as being "off-line"). When on-line, the user is able to access numerous resources available through conduits such as, for example, the Web.
The Web is comprised of voluminous linked "sites". Various linked Web sites contain information of virtually innumerable type, style, and content. Web sites are often comprised of a plurality of Web documents referred to as Web pages. In general, the layout language for a Web document is Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Web documents are stored in HTML format in association with "server" software on remote servers. A Web document is given a "Uniform Resource Locator" (URL) which is essentially an address path identifying the server which hosts the desired document plus the location of the document on the server. Using a "browser" software, an end-user can send a request from a client computer to access a document stored at a particular URL. Browser software such as Netscape.TM. Navigator, of Netscape Communications Corporation of Mountain View, Calif., is well known and widely available. When the server receives the user's request, it sends the requested HTML Web document to the client where the document can be displayed. The communications protocol used in making such a request and in transferring Web documents is "Hypertext Transfer Protocol" (HTTP). For more information about the Web, see for example T. Berners-Lee, R. Cailliau, A. Loutonen, H. F. Nielsen, and A. Secret, "The World Wide Web," Communications of the ACM, vol. 37(8), August 1994.
In addition to the Internet, other "limited access on-line" information retrieval systems such as "Intranet" systems also exist. An Intranet system operates in a manner similar to the manner in which a conventional Internet system operates. However, access to the Intranet is controlled/restricted, for example, to a specific user group, or to users accessing the Intranet from specified locations. In a business environment, for example, an Intranet system containing information relevant to a particular business may only be accessed from terminals present on the grounds of the business. In so doing, it is presumed that the business' information will only be accessed by employees. Similarly, access to the Intranet can be limited only to users knowing, for example, a specific password. Thus, the business' Intranet system is not available to the general public. Like the Internet, information contained in an Intranet system is frequently arranged in Web sites comprised of various linked Web pages.
Although Internet and Intranet systems conveniently provide information to various users, maintaining articles within or deleting articles from an Internet or Intranet system is often a complex and time-consuming task. Maintaining or updating an article typically involves verifying that the correct metadata records exist for a given article, verifying that an article exists for a given metadata record. Internet and Intranet maintenance further includes determining whether the most current version of an article is contained within the Internet or Intranet system, and insuring that articles are properly archived. For purposes of the present application, archiving refers to removing an article from active retrieval, or requiring special retrieval commands to any Internet or Intranet system, including search engines. In addition to maintaining articles, it is often necessary to delete articles from an Internet or Intranet system. Deleting an article from an Internet or Intranet system often requires contacting the content creator. In many instances, contacting the content creator is not an simple task for the average Internet or Intranet user. Thus, it can be quite difficult for the average Internet or Intranet user to maintain/update articles in or delete articles from an Internet or Intranet system. Because it is so difficult for users to maintain and/or delete articles, many Internet or Intranet systems have one or more persons solely dedicated to performing such tasks. Such persons are commonly referred to as webmasters. As a result of requiring a webmaster or webmasters, conventional Internet and Intranet systems have substantial additional cost associated therewith.
Thus, a need exists for a method and system which efficiently allows a user to evaluate the status of articles in an Internet or Intranet system. A further need exists for a method and system for efficiently archiving articles in an Internet or Intranet system. Yet another need exists for a system and method which allows a user to readily delete articles from an Internet or Intranet system.